FEELING A DRAFT? ESPN’S KIPER JR. CHIMES IN ON TOP PROSPECTS

Longtime NFL draft expert believes former LCC star Stills should have stayed in college

Mel Kiper Jr., ESPN’s NFL draft expert, spoke to reporters recently for nearly two hours, seemingly without taking a breath or referring to his notes.

It was as if he covered every college player from California to Florida, including a pair of San Diegans at Oklahoma — receiver Kenny Stills from La Costa Canyon High and cornerback Tony Jefferson from Eastlake.

Both declared for the draft after their junior seasons.

“I would have liked to see Stills go back for his senior year,” Kiper said of a player who finished with 204 receptions in three college seasons. “He has a lot of talent, but he drops some balls.

“As it stands now, I see him going in the third round. With another year at Oklahoma, he could have been a late first-rounder or early second.”

Kiper sees Jefferson as a second-round pick.

“I like the way he plays,” Kiper said. “He has awareness, instincts. It will be interesting to see if he gets into the late first round.”

The draft runs from April 25-27 on ESPN, ESPN2 and the NFL Network.

Kiper said workouts at the Senior Bowl and the NFL combine could shake up the draft.

As a group, Kiper said, tight end is not a strong position. He said San Diego State’s Gavin Escobar could be the fifth or sixth tight end taken, probably in the fourth round.

He doesn’t project a quarterback to be taken in the first round, despite Kansas City, Arizona and Buffalo looking for a signal-caller.

With NFL teams carrying four and five cornerbacks, players at that position will get pushed up the draft board. That’s good news for San Diego State’s Leon McFadden, whom Kiper projects to be drafted in the second or third round.

The group of receivers, Kiper said, isn’t strong, but added that there could be a rush late in the first round and early in the second.

The interior offensive line is “as good a group as you’ll find,” Kiper said. “The guard position is outstanding.”

Running back is loaded with prospects, and the strength of the defensive crop is the front seven — line and linebacker.

More draft

Kiper said Kansas City, which owns the No. 1 pick, holds the key to the draft. Because the Chiefs need a quarterback, Kiper wouldn’t be surprised to see them trade down because there isn’t a college QB worthy of the top pick.

The top quarterbacks, in Kiper’s eyes, are Mike Glennon of North Carolina State, Geno Smith of West Virginia and Matt Barkley of USC.

As for the Chargers, who have the No. 11 selection, Kiper said left tackle Eric Fisher of Central Michigan “would be a heck of a pick.”

“The Chargers need to add a guard and a cornerback, but they need to protect Philip Rivers,” he said. “Fisher would be an immediate hole-filler.”

Kiper also said Kentucky guard Larry Warford would be a good fit for the Chargers.

According to Kiper, the best bets to be the top pick are Texas A&M offensive tackle Luke Joeckel, Utah defensive tackle Star Lotulelei and Georgia outside linebacker Jarvis Jones.

NFL notes

For fans used to catching the first NFL game of a Sunday at 10 a.m., be warned that this Sunday will be a little different.

Fox has the Falcons-49ers in the NFC championship, but the game kicks off a little after noon. Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Pam Oliver and Erin Andrews will work the game.

CBS has the Ravens-Patriots in the AFC championship at 3:30 p.m. Jim Nantz, Phil Simms, Solomon Wilcotts and Steve Tasker are assigned to the game.

Hockey’s back

The NHL is back in business, and there will be plenty of TV coverage.

• The Stanley Cup champion L.A. Kings are featured at 12:30 p.m. Saturday against the Chicago Blackhawks on NBC. The NBC Sports Group will air 70 regular-season games, 15 on NBC.

• Fox’s Prime Ticket, which is available in certain areas of San Diego, will air 42 Ducks games. Fox Sports West, which is available on all cable systems in San Diego, will carry 14 Ducks games.

• Fox Sports West will carry 41 Kings games. Bob Miller returns for his 40th season in the broadcast booth. He works alongside Jim Fox, who is in his 23rd year.

Tee it up

Most of the top PGA Tour players will be in action this weekend, but at different venues.

Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy are making their season debuts at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. The Golf Channel will have taped coverage at 7:30 and 11:30 a.m. today. Action is live at 1 a.m. Saturday and Sunday, with replays at 7:30 and 11:30 a.m.

Phil Mickelson and Brandt Snedeker head the field for the Humana Challenge from La Quinta. The Golf Channel has live coverage at noon today, Saturday and Sunday, with replays at 7 p.m. all three days. Snedeker is the defending champion of the Farmers Insurance Open, which will be played next week at the Torrey Pines Golf Course.

Politically correct

• I got a bunch of calls and emails last week about my criticism of Brent Musburger’s comments on Miss Alabama Katherine Webb, the girlfriend of Alabama quarterback A.J. McCarron. “You quarterbacks get all the good-looking women,” Musburger said on the air. “What a beautiful woman.” I thought he was over the top, and so did most people who emailed.

Musburger came back this week with a comment at the end of a Baylor-Kansas men’s basketball game. Most people heard him say “For Fran Fraschilla (game analyst) and Holly Rowe (sideline reporter), who was really smokin’ tonight.”

According to ESPN, Musburger said, “For Fran Fraschilla and Holly Rowe, it was really smokin’ tonight.”

Believe what you want.

• Speaking of being PC, I had a problem with Lee Hamilton of The Mighty 1090 last week. He announced that Kevin Acee of the U-T would be his guest host and said “there would be gunfire” in the studio. Certainly, we all know Hamilton meant verbal gunfire, but maybe “fireworks” would have been a better choice of words.

Local notes

• Time Warner Cable Sports Net will carry Saturday’s San Diego State-Wyoming men’s basketball game live at 4:30 p.m. from Laramie. The CBS Sports Network will carry Wednesday’s 7 p.m. game against Nevada.

• Time Warner Cable Sports Net has Saturday’s USD-BYU men’s basketball game at 6 p.m. Thursday’s game against Saint Mary’s is also on TWCSN, at 8 p.m.

• Hamilton’s guest host this morning on The Mighty 1090 will be Larry Burnett, a veteran announcer for ESPN and Fox.

Ratings game

• Saturday’s Packers-49ers NFC Divisional playoff game on Fox did a 16.9 rating with a 27 share of the audience. The game spiked at 18.6 with a 30 share in overtime with an average audience to 32.1 million viewers. In Milwaukee, the game did a 50.8 rating with a 74 share. In Sacramento, the numbers were 34.9 with a 55 share while in San Francisco it was 32.7 and 60.

• Sunday’s Seahawks-Falcons NFC Divisional playoff game on Fox did a 19.3 rating with a 38 share. Total viewers were 43.2 million. In Seattle, the game did a 45.6 rating with a 79 share. In Atlanta, the numbers were 39.7 with a 64 share.

• Saturday’s Ravens-Broncos AFC Divisional playoff game on CBS was seen by 35.3-million viewers, making it the most-watched Saturday AFC Divisional playoff game since 1987.

• Sunday’s Texans-Patriots AFC Divisional playoff game on CBS drew an average audience of 37.7 million.

• The Georgetown-St. John’s men’s basketball game Saturday on ESPN2 did an 0.2 rating. Not a good omen for the seven Catholic colleges bolting the Big East to form a new conference.

• Sunday’s Michigan-Ohio State men’s basketball game on CBS did a 1.2 rating.

Hoops scoop

• There are no fewer than a dozen college games on TV Saturday. The best games figure to be No. 17 Missouri at No. 10 Florida (11 a.m., ESPN), No. 21 Oregon at No. 24 UCLA (1 p.m., CBS), No. 6 Syracuse at No. 1 Louisville (1 p.m., ESPN) and No. 11 Ohio State at No. 18 Michigan State (3 p.m., ESPN).

• ESPN2 and ESPNU each have a pair of women’s college games Sunday. The best games are No. 14 at No. 7 Cal (12:30 p.m., ESPNU) and No. 20 Texas A&M at No. 13 Georgia (2 p.m., ESPN). Monday at 4 p.m., No. 4 Duke plays at No. 3 Connecticut at 4 p.m.

Around the dial

• ESPN announced the first 11 games of “Sunday Night Baseball” schedule. The opening game is Rangers-Astros on March 31. The Angels are featured April 7 against the Rangers and May 12 against the White Sox. The Dodgers play May 5 against the Giants. The Padres aren’t scheduled on Sunday night through July 21.

• ESPN college basketball analyst Dick Vitale will be inducted into the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association Awards Hall of Fame in June.

• ESPN2 will carry the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl at 3 p.m. Saturday. The game from the Home Depot Center in Carson, features some of the top college seniors in the country. The CBS Sports Network has the Raycom All-Star Classic at 9 a.m. Saturday. The NFL Network will carry the East-West Shrine Classic at 10 a.m. Saturday.